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U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15005 / August 7, 1996
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kimberly D. Goodman, Civil
Action No. 96-749 (LHM) (EEx) (C.D. Cal.) (Aug. 6, 1996);
On August 6, 1996, the Commission announced that it filed
and settled various legal proceedings against Refco Securities,
Inc., a brokerage firm in New York City, and three of its former
employees for their role in the massive investment advisory fraud
committed by the former California money manager, Steven D.
Wymer. In settling this matter with the Commission, Refco will
pay $3,500,000. Of that amount, $3,250,000 will be paid to
Wymer's defrauded clients and $250,000 will be paid as a civil
penalty.
These proceedings conclude the Commission's investigation of
Wymer and his investment advisory business. Wymer, who is
currently serving a seven year prison sentence for securities and
mail fraud, at one time managed over $1 billion in assets for
approximately 65 clients, many of whom were municipalities
located in California, Iowa and Colorado. From 1987 through
1991, Wymer perpetrated a series of schemes that resulted in 17
of his clients losing more than $80 million. As part of their
investment advisory relationship with Wymer, these 17 clients
held brokerage accounts at Refco.
The proceedings brought by the Commission include a lawsuit
filed in federal court in Los Angeles against one of the former
Refco employees, Kimberly D. Goodman. In that lawsuit, the
Commission charged Goodman with acting as Wymer's accomplice and
participating in a scheme to conceal his misappropriation of more
than $80 million from client accounts at Refco. In exchange for
her complicity, Wymer paid Goodman approximately $183,000 in cash
and bestowed on her approximately $130,000 in luxury gifts,
including a $60,000 Jaguar convertible, a Mercedes Benz and a
Rolex watch. In its complaint, the Commission alleged, among
other things, that between July 1988 and November 1991, Goodman
lied to Wymer's clients and their auditors about the amount of
cash and securities they had in their accounts at Refco. For
instance, Goodman signed at least 20 audit confirmation letters
verifying fictitious account balances to the auditors of Wymer's
clients. In those letters, Goodman stated that the clients had
balances ranging from $400,000 to $75,000,000, when in fact the
clients' balances were often near zero. Goodman agreed to settle
this matter by consenting to an injunction, without admitting or
denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint, that will
enjoin her from committing future violations of the antifraud
provisions of the federal securities laws. She also agreed to be
barred from the securities industry.
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In addition, the Commission brought administrative
proceedings against two other former Refco employees, Douglas L.
Blair and Robert J. Dantone. In those proceedings, the
Commission found that Blair and Dantone processed transactions
that resulted in Wymer's theft of approximately $2.9 million from
his advisory clients. Between August 1987 and May 1988, Wymer
instructed Blair and Dantone to divert to him between 20% and 90%
of the profits from certain options transactions executed on
behalf of Wymer's clients. Wymer told Blair and Dantone that
these payments represented advisory fees purportedly owed to him
by these clients. These "fees" were deducted from each
transaction in such a way that the clients could not tell that
Wymer was stealing a portion of their profits. Further, the
trade confirmations provided by Refco to the clients reported
false prices, effectively concealing Wymer's theft. In settling
this matter with the Commission, Blair consented to an order to
cease-and-desist from committing or causing investment advisory
fraud. Dantone consented to an order to cease-and-desist from
causing broker-dealer books and records violations. Refco also
consented to an order to cease-and-desist from violating the
books and records and transaction confirmation provisions of the
federal securities laws.
Further, the Commission found that Refco failed to have
adequate compliance procedures and failed reasonably to supervise
Goodman. In addition to the payment of $3,500,000 to settle this
matter with the Commission, Refco was censured and also agreed to
establish certain compliance procedures and to retain an
independent consultant to review its systems and procedures.
Refco, Blair and Dantone all consented to the above relief
without admitting or denying the findings in the Commission
orders.